On the Spectrum at Mixed Blood Theatre

Is autism a disability or a difference? This simple but profound question is at the center of a new play by Ken La Zebnik (author of Mixed Blood’s Vestibular Sense and Theory of Mind and winner of the American Theatre Critics Association’s 2007 Osborne New Play Award). A young man with Aspberger’s, passing as “typical” after years of mainstreaming and therapy, connects online with a woman who proudly champions her autism as a difference, not a disorder. This love story between an “aspie” and an “autie” reveals the contradictions between finding success as yourself and on the world’s terms, and the conflict between the desire for acceptance and the desire for achievement. To greatly expand access to this production, Mixed Blood will live stream a performance for those unable to attend and offer a digital version of the show after its run.